A Bronx Urban Farm Sponsored by Women's Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDco)

Monthly Archives: August 2014

After a few weeks of warming up, the plants are churning out produce with an explosion of color. There’s nothing like stepping onto the roof and seeing the pops of color among the shades of green.

Once harvested and gathered together, the color palette is quite impressive. Sometimes, the vibrant colors trigger memories, emotions, and even physical responses. Just look at these lively scotch bonnet peppers! They’ll either make you cringe…or drool.

I would like to thank the Bronx Food and Farm Tour for making the Rooftop Farm at Intervale Green a stop on this year’s tour. It was great to meet all of you and I’m happy to see so many people involved in urban agriculture and the greening movement in the Bronx. A special thanks to Ursula and Sara from the New York Botanical Garden and Ray Figueroa from NYC Community Garden Coalition and Friends of Brook Park. Thank you, Ursula, for the nepeta!

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The rooftop farm is bursting with life these days. The tomato plants are heavy with fruit, the corn is high, and the eggplant and cucumber flowers promise delicious offerings.

We planted more watermelon this year, since we had good results last season and it looks like we’ll get a bumper crop.

This season, I also planted the “Three Sisters”: corn, beans, and squash. This is a Native American tradition that has been practiced for centuries before Europeans set foot in the Americas. The system deals with planting the three crops together. They form a symbiotic relationship and help each other through the growth process. The corn is planted first and once it has grown a few inches, the beans are planted around the base of the corn stalk. After a week or so, the squash is planted around the beans. The corn gives support to the bean vine, which in turn releases much needed nitrogen into the soil while the broad and prickly squash leaves provide shade and weed control and deter creatures from eating the corn.